New Year – New Goals!

Many of you shared your goals and hopes (Tina, Kathy H., Linda, Lynne, Jill, Rebecca Kathy D., Mike, Patty), while others privately set plans for the next year. So let’s look back and celebrate our achievements (both planned and unexpected!) I’d love to hear how your goals went last year and any fun surprises you encountered.

Personally, my goal was to work through concerns about presenting at several larger events to promote a new book. Looking back, the “book tour” went better than expected and I had a lot of fun too. I discovered several things that helped me deal with nervousness such as focusing on the people I was meeting and how I could help them, rather than worrying about my presentation. Though it sounds cliche, that really did help me feel better. While traveling to events, I tried to only think about my next step (getting to airport or catching a Lyft to hotel), instead of thinking about all that needed to happen (getting to airport, security, ride to hotel, finding speaking venue, tech setup.)

Facing my fears: presenting to 700 people at the National Book Festival

It’s very inspiring to hear about others’ journeys. Writing and illustrating from the comfort of home is nice, but it can also feel lonely. So please join in and share a bit about your goals and journey last year, your hopes for next year, or a few words of encouragement.

2019 is full of possibilities! Often just a little inspiration from someone else can help us step out and try something new or reach for a goal that feels too difficult.

My husband, Mike, goes after goals with gusto!

So what goals (small are big) are you hoping to achieve?

What steps are you planning to take to get there?

Here’s to the new goals, hopes, and adventures of 2019. CHEERS!

Suzanne Slade

Suzanne Slade is the author of more than 100 books. A mechanical engineer by degree, she enjoys writing about science topics and fascinating historical figures. Recent books include: A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon, The Daring Dozen, Countdown: 2979 Days to the Moon, Astronaut Annie, Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story, Dangerous Jane, The Music in George's Head: George Gershwin Creates Rhapsody in Blue and The Inventor’s Secret. Coming soon -- Exquisite (Abrams, 2020) and TBA titles from Little, Brown and Calkins Creek.
Learn more about Suzanne and her books at: www.suzanneslade.com

My goal was to finish the novel I was working on. I did and submitted it. I was not offered a contract on it, but was invited to revise and resubmit. I scrutinized the manuscript closely and realized how UNready for publication it was, and rethought my storyline and began again. I still have a long way to go, but it’s a much better story now. I gave several presentations on my writing process (I have 3 published novels), and those went tremendously well. My goals for 2019: Book more presentations and finish the ew version of the WIP.

Congrats on your new novel-in-progress. Sounds like it won’t be long before it’s accepted so readers can enjoy another one of your wonderful historical stories! Your three novels with Calkins Creek are fantastic!

Once again, your timing is perfect, Suzanne. I just pulled out last year’s “aspirations” to review (I managed to accomplish some, but definitely not all of them), and will be writing down new ones for the coming year. Here’s to all good things in the coming year!